This Time
by Imagine Jatie
Summary: Joey and Pacey come back from their 3 month stint in the keys. And Joey has a secret to tell Dawson. Everything on the show except for a few parts that I added in has happened.
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the characters I made up. I don't own the song "This Time" either.

Author: Britney Nicole

Pairing: Dawson and Joey, umm duh.

Rating: Probably PG-13, I can't write smut, you all know that. Even though im like Gutter Queen (coughBeacough) I can't write it, I blush to easily.

Summary: Joey and Pacey come back from their 3 month stint in the keys. And Joey has a secret to tell Dawson. Everything on the show except for a few parts that I added in has happened.

Authors Note: This is for the Valentines Challenge, even though it does not take place during valentines day but I thought it would be cute to post it for the challenge. The song "This Time" by Bryan Adams inspired me to write this story, I also dreamed it.

This Time

I think about her all the time  
She's my fantasy  
An image burnin' in my mind  
Callin' out to me

While my imagination's runnin' wild  
Yeah - things are getting clearer

She was nervous, she hadn't seen him in 3 months. He was her best friend and they hadn't talked for 3 whole months. She had wrote him letters, tried to contact him, anything to get him to just talk to her, she wanted him to know how sorry she was for doing what she did. But he had pushed her, he had told her to go to him. Pacey didn't know about the letters, nobody did but her, except, maybe for Dawson, but she had guessed that he never opened them. She couldn't blame him, if this pain that he was feeling was anything like how she felt when him and Jen started dating then she knew how he felt, but she had a feeling that his pain was a lot worse then hers had ever been. She had talked to Bessie frequently, the first time she called her they were docked off the coast of North Carolina. Bessie had scolded her for just leaving without any prior knowledge. Joey knew that Bessie would act the way she did, she was just worried for her little sister, and considering her condition, Bessie didn't want anything to happen to her.

Now, here she was, standing in front of his house, the house they had first met at when they were 6, the house where they had fought, the house that she was at the moment she realized that she had fallen in love with her best friend. Slowly, walking up the lawn reaching the porch she took a deep breath, letting it out she knocked lightly on the door. A minute or two passed, but Joey wasn't sure considering all she could think about was seeing him again. She knocked harder, still, nobody answered. Lightly touching the knob she slowly turned it, surprised when the door popped open. Then she remembered, they never locked the door, Capeside was a fairly safe and small town, hardly anything happens, oh how wrong they are. She walked into the living room, looking around she noted that nothing really had changed much, except for maybe a new paint job.

"Mr. Leery? Mrs. Leery? Anybody home?" Joey gently yells, afraid that maybe she might wake somebody up.

No answer.

"Maybe their not home." Joey thinks to herself as she glances up the stairs, Dawson's Room.

Sighing she walks up the stairs. Cautiously, she opens the door. Walking in she is surprised at what she sees, the room is completely different. The room is now Green, with pictures all over the walls of Jen, Jack, and Andie. But none of her, or Pacey. Trying hard not to cry, Joey walks towards the door, she quickly glances towards the night stand, noticing something different. Walking over to the bed and sitting down she picks up the framed picture, a frame she recognized. In the picture Dawson had his arm loosely rapped around a girl that she did not recognize. She placed the photo back and opened up the night stand drawer. Under a pile a papers she found the picture that used to be in the frame, a picture of her and Dawson in a similar position, arms rapped tightly around each other, smiling broadly at the camera, obviously young, hopeful and in love. She places the picture back in the drawer, noticing another familiar picture she picks it up. It was a picture of herself that she had given Dawson when they were dating. On the back she had written,

"To Dawson, I will always Love you"

" Joey"

"Who are you?" Asked a hesitant voice braking Joey from her thoughts. Slowly turning around, Joey doesn't recognize the girl at first, but suddenly It occurs to her.

It was the girl in the photo with Dawson.


	2. So we meet again

This Time

This time everything is alright  
No way she's gonna get away  
This time everything is easy  
Any day - I'm gonna make her mine

"Who are you?" The girl asked.

"Im, uh, im Joey." Joey says to her.

"Joey?" The girl asks.

"Joey Potter. I'm Dawson's best friend." Joey said standing up taking the girl in.

She was blonde. Of course, Joey thought, he had always had a thing for blondes, started when Jen came into the picture. She had blue eyes and was a little shorter then Joey, by a couple inches. She was perfect.

"Joey Potter? Im sorry, it's just, Dawson's never mentioned you. Im Allison by the way, but you can call me Ally." The girl says walking over to Joey and shaking her hand.

"Oh, nice to meet you." Joey says while forcing a smile.

"Is Dawson here?" Ally asks.

"Oh, no, he doesn't seem to be" Joey says looking around the room once more and shrugging.

"He's probably at work then." Ally says turning around.

"Work?" Joey asks confused.

"You two really haven't talked have you?" Ally mused.

"No, we kind of left things on bad terms when I left." Joey says shrugging once more.

"Oh, well, he works at his parents restaurant, Leery's Fresh fish." Ally says.

"Oh ok." Joey says following Ally down the stairs.

"Do you want a ride there?" Ally asks as they walk towards her car.

"That would be great, thanks." Joey says smiling at her and getting into the car.

'Great, she was nice, god, what a bitch.' Joey thinks to herself as Ally starts the car and drives off.

(Leery's Fresh Fish)

"Jen, hey!" Ally says walking up to Jen.

"Ally hey! Dawson's in the back, This place is pretty busy today, but you can go ahead to the bar and wait." Jen says smiling at her.

"Joey you want to come with me?" Ally asks.

"I'll be there in a sec." Joey says as Ally walks away.

"Joey! You're back." Jen says surprised.

"Yea, I got back earlier today." Joey says.

"Oh, how's Pacey?" Jen asks.

"He's fine." Joey says. "Well im going to go find Dawson." Joey says walking away, but Jen quickly catches her arm.

"Joey, I don't think you should do that. Dawson's happy right now. You don't know how sad he was when you left. Please, just give him some more time." Jen says.

"Jen, I've given him enough time, I need to see him, I need to see my best friend." Joey says looking Jen in the eyes.

"Ok, but im just saying this. He isn't the same guy you left on that dock. He's grown up. A lot." Jen says.

Joey just looks at her, pain evident in her eyes and walked towards the bar.

When she gets there she sees Dawson and Ally hugging, even though his back was towards her, she knew that it was him.

"Oh, Dawson, look who I found wondering around your room." Ally says while entangling from the embrace as Dawson looks at her confused and turns around to meet Joeys eyes.

"Oh my god." Dawson whispers.

"Hey." Joey says with a small smile.

"What, what are you doing back so early?" Dawson asks.

"Nice to see you to." Joey says trying to avoid his gaze.

"Well, I'll just leave you to alone." Ally says walking away.

"Can we talk?" Joey asks.

"Joey, this isn't really a good time. Im busy." Dawson says picking up a waiter tray.

"But, I really need to talk to you, it's important." Joey says.

"Joey, there is really nothing to talk about, it's clear to me who you want to be with. Now if you'll excuse me, I have a job to do and im not going to abandon it. You remember that, don't you." Dawson says, anger in filling his voice, and he walks away.

(Leery's Living Room)

"Hey Dawson, you get Ally home okay?" Mitch asks while reading the news paper.

"Im standing here aren't I?" Dawson says as anger fills his voice again.

"Okay, Jeeze Dawson, pop a Midol." Mitch says.

"Im sorry, something just happened at work today." Dawson says.

"What, a costumer bitch at you for bringing the wrong plate?" Mitch asks.

"No, Joey's back." Dawson says as he sits on the couch next to Mitch.

"Now you've caught my attention. What happened?" Mitch asks as he puts the paper down.

"She tried to talk to me, but I snapped at her and walked away. Do you think that was rude?" Dawson asks.

"Truthfully? No, I don't. But I do think you should talk to her, get some of these feelings out. Who knows, she might become your best friend again." Mitch says as he picks up the paper and starts reading.

"Yea, best friend. Thanks dad. Im going to go upstairs." Dawson says as he walks up the stairs.

Dawson walks into his room and sighs as he lays down on his bed.

"So, who is she?" Joey asks as she opens the closet door.

"Who Ally? She's my girlfriend." Dawson says as he sits up.

"Oh, how-how long have you two been dating?" Joey asks.

"About two months." Dawson says.

"I've missed you." Joey says as Dawson chuckles.

"What?" Joey asks confused.

"Just dajavu. This whole thing. It reminds me of when I came back last summer from Philadelphia." Dawson says.

"Yea, it does." Joey says.

"Joey, im sorry for yelling at you today." Dawson says pausing. "Actually, im not sorry, but I didn't intend to yell at you, it just, happened." Dawson says.

"Its funny how things just, happen, specially between us." Joey says.

"Joey don't start." Dawson says.

"Start what?' Joey asks.

"Don't bring her up." Dawson says while standing up.

"Dawson, we have to talk about her eventually." Joey says looking up at him.

"Talk about what? About the fact that you aborted our child or that fact that you left with Pacey two months later?" Dawson yells.

"Dawson, please stop yelling." Joey says in a clam yet shaky voice.

"You knew that I would take care of you, both of you, but you wouldn't listen, you went to the clinic with Bessie and aborted her, after 4 months of pregnancy." Dawson says.

"Dawson-" Joey says but is cut off.

"No, you want to know the real reason why I broke up with you after our one month stint in December? Because I was afraid, I was afraid that I would get my heart broken again. I wasn't ready. Joey, I loved you so much that I didn't want to loose you again, for the third time. And then when I found out that you were pregnant, I'll admit that I was scared, but surprisingly I was happy, happy that maybe we would get a real chance. But instead of getting back together, you pulled away, and one day, four months later you come to me and tell me that your getting an abortion. Two months later your on a boat with Pacey sailing the open seas, so is it any reason why im pissed at you?" Dawson asks.

"Her name is Emma Annabel Leery." Joey says finally being able to get something out.

"What?" Dawson asks.

"She was born on August 10th at 4:30 in the morning, weighing 5 lbs 16 oz. She was a preemie baby, supposed to be born on September 10th. Ok Dawson, I didn't get an abortion, I couldn't go through with it. I was at the clinic with Bessie, the nurse had just called my name, I looked up at her, and she gave me this look, this look like she was trying to tell me something, trying to tell me to not go through with this, so I just looked at her, shook my head and walked out of the clinic." Joey says sadly while sitting down on the bed.

Dawson just sits next to her completely speechless.

"Why didn't you tell me? You had two whole months." Dawson says, finally regaining his composure.

"I was scared, I thought you had wanted the abortion. We are to young for this." Joey says.

"So you were just going to have the baby and not tell me?" Dawson asks.

"That was the plan, until the whole Pacey thing happened. I didn't tell him until about a month after we left, he noticed the belly." Joey said.

"What did he say?" Dawson asks still a little shocked.

"He was surprised, angry that we never told him. He got used to it though." Joey says shrugging.

"How'd you get back here?" Dawson asks.

"Took a bus from Florida, where I had Anna. Pacey is on his way with the boat." Joey says finally looking at him.

"Are you going to keep her?" Dawson asks.

"Of course I am. I love her more then anything in the world." Joey says.

"Can I see her?" Dawson asks.

"Yea, she's at the B & B." Joey says smiling at him. She stands up and offers him her hand. He looks up at her and takes it, standing up.

To Be Continued….


	3. She looks like you

Authors note: I know, it seems like in like every fic of mine someone ends up getting knocked up or having a miscarriage or something as life alternating. Its just, pregnancy is such an interesting and untouchable story subject and its fun to come up with different idea's for it. I hope nobody gets tired of it. Here's the next part to this story, I don't know how many chapters im going to have for it. And as for my other fics, I don't know what the hell is going on there, I can't think of anything for them, specially "Something to talk about", im like drawing complete blanks, I don't know if I will continue that fic, I started writing the next part, but ended up erasing it because it didn't seem right and I wouldn't know where to go from there. Sorry for anyone who liked it, but im just not inspired by it anymore. Anyways, I just watched a movie on lifetime entitled "Mom at sixteen" and that got me thinking about this fic, and the movie inspired me to write this next part. Well, here you go.

This Time

I've thought of every word I'd say  
Give or take a few  
But she turns and slowly walks away  
What do I have to do

This Time Part 3

"Hey Jo, you back? Cuz I need you to watch Emma while I go do the-" Bessie stops in her tracks when she sees who her little sister is with, Dawson. "-Laundry. Dawson, hey how are you? Wow, you look different, older." Bessie says looking at the once boy who now seemed more like a man.

"Oh, thanks Bessie." Dawson says Blushing.

Although his physical appearance may have changed, he was still such a boy at heart, Bessie thought.

"Yes Bessie, I'll watch Emma for you, go, do the laundry." Joey says as she pushes her sister toward the door.

"Ok, now the washer broke so I have to go to the laundry mat and I won't be home for a while, but the repair man will be coming tomorrow around five, and I fed Emma and put her down about an hour ago but she will probably be up and about soon, and Alex is over at a friends house and will be spending the night, so-" Bessie says as Joey pushes her out the door.

"Ok, Bessie I've got it. Did anyone tell you that you talk way to damn much?" Joey says.

"I know I have, but she just denies it more." Bodie says as he takes the laundry out of Bessie's arms. "Now lets go Bess." Bodie says as he drags her towards the car.

Joey just rolls her eyes, smirking she walks back into the house shutting the door behind her. She notices that Dawson is out of the room, but has an idea of where he could be. She walks into Emma's room and notices Dawson leaning over the crib.

"She looks just like you." Joey says as she stands at the doorway with her arms crossed.

"She's gorgeous, defiantly her mothers work." Dawson says as he gazes down at the sleeping baby.

"She does have Brown hair, so I will give you that. But her eyes on the other hand..." Joey says walking over to the crib.

"What about her eyes?" Dawson asks.

"She has blue eyes, nobody in my family has blue eyes. Defiantly the work of her father." Joey says looking at him.

"That's kind of weird." Dawson says as he walks over and sits on a chair.

"What's weird?" Joey asks sitting in the chair next to him.

"Being called that. A, father." Dawson says looking into her eyes.

"Yea, it is kind of weird, and very scary." Joey says.

"God, what were we thinking? Why didn't we wait?" Dawson says as he puts his head in his hands.

"We were in love, it happens. We made a mistake, but a good mistake, something beautiful came out of it." Joey says as she glances over at the crib.

"But were so young. How are we going to deal with school and her, not to mention telling my parents-" Dawson says but Joey cuts him off.

"Whoa, Dawson slow down, we will get through this, I promise. What happened to the eternal optimist?" Joey asks.

"He left when you left with Pacey for the summer and took his unborn child with you." Dawson says looking at her.

They look at each other, but the moment is quickly cut short by the sounds of crying.

"Oh, Emma. Shh." Joey says as she gets up and picks Emma up and rocks her gently.

"Is she ok?" Dawson asks.

"Yeah, she just needs to be changed." Joey says as she lays Emma down on the changing table.

"Ok, well I should go." Dawson says as he backs out of the room.

"Dawson, you don't have to, I mean we could sit, talk." Joey says.

"Yea, sure, that sounds nice." Dawson says smiling at her.

"Ok, well just let me change her and I'll be right out to make her up a bottle and then we'll talk." Joey says as she goes back to changing the diaper while Dawson goes into the living room.

Cut to the Potter's living room

"You ever think about how she came along?" Joey asks as she feeds Emma.

"What do you mean? Were you absent the days in health that they taught us that?" Dawson says teasingly.

"No, I mean the emotional part. That's defiantly a mystery to me." Joey says as she looks at Emma.

"I have no idea. It just kind of happened. I mean we got together, we had sex, we broke up, it happens." Dawson says.

"Dawson, why did you get back together with me if you didn't want to get your heart broken again?" Joey asks.

"I don't know, I just knew that I wanted to be with you, no matter what happened to us. And then, after we had sex, it was kind of a reality check and I was just scared that something would come up and you would brake up with me again, and I couldn't handle it again, so I decided to get out before you did. It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do." Dawson says.

"Wow, I wasn't expecting that. But, Dawson, just so you know, I had no intention of letting you go." Joey says as she looks at Dawson. Suddenly, Emma's cries fills the room causing both to look away.

"Oh, Emma, im sorry baby girl. Come on, lets put you to bed." Joey coos to the baby as she stands up and walks towards the room Emma and Joey shares.

"So, im going to go, I gotta to get home, get some sleep, long day tomorrow." Dawson says as Joey walks back into the living room.

"Why, what's tomorrow?" Joey asks confused.

"Im going to tell mom and dad about Emma." Dawson says, finally speaking his daughters name for the first time.

"Do you want me to come over when you do?" Joey asks.

"Yea, yea, and um, bring Emma, maybe it'll prevent them from yelling to loudly." Dawson dryly jokes.

"Ok, well call me when your ready for me to come over." Joey says.

"Ok, I will." Dawson says as he glances at Joey and opens the door. "Bye."

"Bye." Joey says, as she walks over to the door and closes it behind him, sighing she leans against the door, not aware that Dawson is doing the same thing on the other side. The quietness of the house is quickly broken by the loud sounds of Emma crying. Sighing, she walks towards the bedroom.

"Emma, shhh, mommy's coming. Mommy's here." Joey says as she picks Emma up.

TBC….


End file.
